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Say Cheese – You’re in Holland’s Countryside

February 16, 2013

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As part of my mission to visit the whole world (One may only wish) – but I’ve managed to visit Europe this year with my husband! Our first European country of choice was the Netherlands. Today, we got the chance to visit the country side.

Seeing as it was snowing, and at least -3 degrees outside – I was a bit skeptical on whether we’d enjoy it or not, but as it seems Volendam, Marken, and the windmill village of Zaanse Schans was beyond my expectations.

Our first stop of the day was Marken, a visit to a traditional clog maker who should us the A-Z of making clogs! I still remember the gentlemen’s name who had quite a sense of humor if you ask me! His name was Bart. I remember when he first introduced himself my first reaction was to go like ‘SIMPSON?’ Inside joke, but I hope it at least put a smile on your face. Learning that Dutch people still wear clogs as an interesting idea! The wooden shoe is slip and water resistant because of the kind of wood they use, which is no surprise that some farmers still wear them – apart of course from traditional folklore and festivities. The amazing part of this demonstration is that within minutes a piece of wood is transformed into a show. Just give it two weeks to try, and you’re ready to sharpen the edges, and start coloring as you see fit.

The highlight of my day however was a visit to the Volendam Cheese Factory, hence the title of this blogpost. Believe it or not, I have a thing for cheese, any kind of cheese, unless it’s blue cheese or has cumin in it. The cheese factory sits on a 400 m square area, which tells the story of how cheese has been made across the Netherlands since the beginning of time, till now. Whether it’s the taste or the smell, you can’t have enough cheese in this place. I can easily say, I’ve bought a few cheese blocks and I can’t wait to get back to Amman to enjoy them over breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You know the golden rule, Joey doesn’t share food, and neither do I!

Just think of how much can be made with this cheese, Lasagna, Tortellini, Spaghetti, Ravioli, Cannelloni, Fettuccine, Margarita Pizza, Calzone, offfft! The list of endless!

The last stop of this beyond cold day was the Zaanse Schans Wind Mills. The museum holds a scale of windmills that date back to the 17 century, some are still operated till this day by volunteers. The museum pretty much holds everything in that era from paintings, tools, and the actual mills. If you walk straight away from the museum for about 10 minutes, you can actually walk into a windmill that’s actually operating till this day. The sense of spices is overwhelming, and quite enjoyable.

Oh well, seeing as I’ll be back in Amman soon, I’ll have to go to sleep! I knew I would regret that afternoon nap as soon as I woke up three hours later!

For more pictures follow me on Instagram http://instagram.com/larahadi